Why buying the boxed set of the West Wing was ok

1. It was only £50 quid and my friend got £250 for referring me to the Social Work agency I got my job through and he gave me half.
2. Anne wants to borrow them so there not just for me
3. Lots of the West Wing is people walking quickly down corridors talking a lot so you get the story if your not really watching-i.e knitting. Therefore owning the WW is good for my creativity.
4. The extras DVD is really good and includes a Documentary about the real WW that features amongst others, Carter, Clinton, Ford and Kissinger-how cool is that?
5.The husband is away from home 2 nights a week and the WW is a comfort (and to be honest Clive hates it).
6. Social worker need an escape and it is better than chocolate or alcohol

child has gone

I am back in my daughter's old room and she is home in Israel by now. I am back with my cavemem type son and husband. Hannah has a strong and vibrant personality that fills a room and it feels really quiet.
Bot to look at the good-she realy enjoyed being in our house but realised that Israel not London is home now-I am proud that she has been able to build her own life at 20-I always wanted independant kids and I do have them. She also spend a lot of time with my son that was really nice to see-he has also said he will go to see her in Israel-all so very very good.
Knitting helps I am making her an Alpaca cardigan and it is a real sense of connection.
and to be honest I do like my space-it took a serious clean-my child is not the world's most obsessive duster-but here I am back in my knitting space with radio 4 and not at work-life is not all that bad!

Long time no write

Well I am not that self disciplined when it comes to writing but in my defence I have now been back at work for 2 weeks-4 days a week at Hillingdon Children's Services and my daughter is home for a month from Israel.
So important lessons since I last wrote.
1 weight loss and working
The only way to keep up the weight loss is to take lunch-the world is full of calorific yummy crap and I am weak. The only way to take lunch is to make it the moment you get home from work-trust me on this one.
2 Travel comfort
Uxbridge tube station is a schlep but a very empty train as most people are travelling in the opposite direction therefore entertainment is important-knitting, sudoku and a book. Therefore a comfortable bag that will last and hide the dirt is essential. I am now the proud owner of a good quality back pack from John Lewis and it is wonderful-no more sagging shoulder and I march along the road like some aging Girl Guide.
3Clothes
My child does not do tact just like her father-thank god for my advanced levels of diplomacy. But there are times when this is useful. She sat on her bed and passed judgement on my entire wardrobe-the result is that everything left fits well and choosing clothes in the morning is so much easier. Did my checked shirt really make me look like a butch lesbian?
4. Breakfast
Starting the day with tea from a tea pot is essential

job hunting

I got rejected by the second team that interviewed me at Westminister and Chelsea for a lack of experience-it is amazing how blah this makes me feel. I have been put forward for other work so we shall see. The daughter comes home for a month next week so as least as things stand I will have more time for her.
I take amazing comfort from the fact that I have almost finished the wrap around from Big Girl Knits-I started it in 2007 and made a complete mess of the front shaping-very very complex. Somehow it is extremely satisfying to finish the back of the cupboard reject. I have knitted this in a lovely cotton silk mix and will really enjoy wearing it a sense of achievement amonsgst all this getting no where in particular job hunting. -which lets be honest is a remarkably unpleasant process of selling yourself.

being nice warning

I went for a job interview on Tuesday-the office was in Kings Road-past the Saatchi Gallery with lovely park and trees and Peter Jones and various other gorgeous shops i.e what a pretty amazing place to work. This is almost too good to be true and it was-the job had already gone and my agent failed to pass on the message. Ho hum.
I comforted myself with a picnic dinner outside the Southbank Centre. I got to thinking how rare it is for women to feel really good about themselves and as a consequence I have decided that if I see a woman who looks really good I will tell her.
Sitting there watching the boats go by I saw this amazing woman wearing a long hippy dress really really well; a good belt and great jewellery. Anyway I told her she looked fabulous and she was really pleased. But sitting on the bench next to me was a rather batty looking woman who got incredibly annoyed that I had not complimented her on her clothes. I really truly despair

try try again

The husband did not come to Israel with me and with job hunting, exams coming up etc etc he has been feeling really burnt out. He found a good deal and booked us into the Grand in Brighton last weekend. Being the devoted wife I am I agreed to go with him even if it meant sacrificing intensive long weekend knitting marathons.
I love 5 star hotels it is like going into the gorgeous alternative reality and the Grand has that slightly battered aged look-it is so much nicer than a plastic fantastic new hotel.
We were able to catch the end of the Brighton Festival we went to hear Markus Zusak who wrote The Book Thief speak. He was not happy with the voice of the book and ended up rewriting it twice. Would I ever reknit a garment twice to get it exactly right? Zusak is an incredibly successful author and he deserves it.

Home

I am back home-the husband and son obviously see touching a broom or a cleaning cloth as some sort of swine flu risk factor and therefore the house was a complete dust bowl on my return.
But somehow it is all ok and life flows smoothly-it is amazing how powerful time out can be.
I have resolutions-I will work much harder on my knitting design course-there is always calls to make and stuff to organise and I need to make time for this.
I am also really excited about my next project for moi moi. I have now lost 19 and half pounds and I am starting to swim in some of my clothes-I look forward to making a fitted jumper with waist shaping-I realise more and more how much nicer fitted clothes look

Magical day in Israel

I am still in Israel and it can truly be a magical place. This morning we went to Akko market, which dates back to the time of the Crusaders and has changed little in the intervening centuries.
We started our journey at the kibbutz, where my daughter is based. They have a wonderful computerised system where you can check who is leaving the kibbutz when and where to in order to get a ride. This is not England.

We managed to find someone going to Tzfat. Soldiers in uniform travel on public transport for free in Israel so daughter was in uniform, but had to change before we went to the market. It is a sad but true fact that it is not such a good idea being in a predominantly Arab market in an IDF uniform.

At the market we bought dried tea herbs, spices and various foods that all come in large sacks and big hunks of honey scented olive oil soap. The smells and the colours are other worldly, although the trays of every sort of fish and seafood, barely dead, with a sprinkling of flies is somewhat unappealing. The market looks as if it should star in a'chasing-the-baddie-through-the-market' scene in a James Bond movie. We ate in a restaurant that my daughter claims sells the best hummus in Israel. They sell three types of hummus and nothing else, and because of the speed at which the waiters have to work to keep up with the crowds, the food is essentially thrown at the customer rather than served.

We managed to catch the one bus a day that passes through Akko and eventually ends up at my daughter's kibbutz. This bus meanders through town and country, Arab village, religious settlements, mountains and valleys before arriving at the kibbutz. This 30 shekel trip gives a sense of the spectrum lifestyles in even a small part of this vibrant country.

We got back to the kibbutz just in time for the Lag B'Omer party. This was a picnic in the forest with all the kids playing bongos for all they were worth followed by the traditional Bonfire.

A magical day yes yes yes

weight loss/books and finishing things

WHY why why-I am in the process of losing weight-I want to get off medication for high blood pressure-it is going ok-18 pounds so far. Essentially it is about accepting that I have to eat differently if I want to lose weight. I am now seeing some difference in appearance but could absolutely scream-while my flabby stomach hangs in there like some sort of anarchic squatter my feet have lost half an inch in diameter-as I say why why.
I Knit has a wonderful book group that I have not been able to get to for months and months-the next meeting is Tuesday and I will be in Israel. They always choose great books-the latest is Watching the English written by an anthropologist about the idiosyncrasies of English behaviour. It is absolutely wonderful-read it if you can.
Finally I am in the process of finishing the wrap around from the first Big Girl Knits book which I abandoned 17 months ago when I realised I had put the arm hole shaping on the front instead of the side of the front pieces-such a brain dead mistake I really do not know how I managed it. But what joy actually getting the dead from the back of the cupboard projects and actually getting then finished. Try this- live the joy!

aerobics and coffee

Our Wednesday morning beautiful though probably gay (the pink shorts does make one wonder) instructor has left us! We now have a muscle bound bloke who insists on taking off his tee shirt and plays the sort of thumpy thump boom boom music that one would expect to hear being played loudly by a car been driven by a 30 year old virgin going to a Division 4 football game.

Change is not always easy.

I go to Israel for 10 days Monday week to see the daughter and of course I have not thought about clothes but have the knitting sorted-a lacy scarf in the beautiful baby camelyarn spun and dyed by a friend. Going over will be a challenge amongst other things I am taking a charity shop bone china tea set , Meakin 1970's tea pot and milk jug and the Readers Digest sewing book.-I shall have to casually womble up to the check in pretending my hand luggage does not weigh a ton.

Coffee ah coffee almost as important as toast. Instant is slutty, cafetere bland and drip filter comes from the country that elected Nixon. Regan and Bush and tastes like it. My friend Richard has a £500 pound coffee (I know -he has no children) machine-it is bloody wonderful and my aim in life has been to replicate the coffee he makes on the cheap. I bought a second hand coffee machine that Richard and I tried to use without instructions-we both have degrees-how hard can it be. We ended up with limescale intensive water all over the kitchen and half a cup of the most ghastly luke warm coffee I have ever tasted. Do I give in and buy a Nespresso-thus being trapped into buying there overpriced coffee supplies or do I battle on?

God I love toast// knitting warning

I very long time ago the G2 section of the Guardian had a photo of a scarf with mittens on the end-brilliant I thought. I could not get the idea out of my mind especially when I decided this would be a great idea to knit in left over sock wool. I am 50 years old and I really should know by now that my great ideas should probably be very VERY carefully considered.

Firstly the scarf had to be long enough to wind around the neck and then hang low enough so my hands could comfortably hang by my sides in the mittens. Trust me this meant it had to be an extremely long scarf. Well after a year of mocking my impulsiveness this scarf was dragged out of the darkest back corner of my wardrobe and has now been knitted to the right length.

However there is another problem: knitting the second mitten results in the knitting twisting into a very long deranged spiral-and after all this -exactly how often in London do you need mittens any way. Furthermore I now think this crosses the line from funky to care in the community chic-oh well.

Why oh why do I miss toast. Because it is still Passover and this means no bread-ie no toast. It is incredible how much you miss the simple pleasures when they are gone. Thank God for my friend Julie who realised I have 31 teapots and none for Passover- and bought me a teapot for the festival. This does make life a lot more pleasant. My Slimming World class was awash with weight gain but at least the Christians gained their weight in a pleasureable way-Easter Eggs while the Jews have gained weight on matza oil eggs and potatoes. Trust me chocolate is a much better option.

I'm back/annual Pesach disaster

Many of the truely wonderful women on the truely wonderful Skip North told me I should blog again so here I am!
I have just finished preparing for the Passover (Pesach) this involves completely and utterly cleaning the home.-The principle being that the house is ready for the special foods of Pesach and any crumb of normal food is gone. I hate it and my muscles ache but it does mean that once a year the house is throughly cleaned-I find it amazing that the cloth I use to wipe the inside of wardrobes comes out black despite having done the same job a year previously.
But in this unnatural flurry of hyper cleaning there is always a complete disaster.
Last year I was in my husbands overcrowded office (that is overcrowded by his perpensity to keep piles of useless paper and to buy overpriced guitars-more of that another time.)
Anyway he is also doing an extramural degree in Applied Economics.Last year I attempted to talk on the phone-I needed a little pleasure-and clean his office and ended up with his text books in a bucket of soapy water.
This year I was looking at all these phone wires all around the lounge/dining room-why? The internet is wireless-that means no wires doesn't it? and a phone line with no phone. So with great pleasure I ripped wires that added nothing to the overall look of the room only to find that wireless broadband does have a wire-how ridiculous and the phone line is re directed to Clive's mobile. Once again I failed wife of the week until I saw the look on my husbands face when he realised that he could mention this for YEARS. I cannot tell you how often he is able to bring a cut wire into any conversation

Winter

I really love winter-the drama of the dark and cold, the excuse to knit and the wintery foods.
There are disadvantages.
Over knitting-that is once again starting all too many projects-why am I so weak? Hannah mentioned a friend who is also a solider in the IDF needed a plain black scarf-I am needed and instantly all other projects are dropped. The thing is a garter stitch black scarf does not take time-lots of the projects on the go at the moment are not difficult but it all adds up and once again I am completely overwhelmed. I will not keep adding projects to the pile-I will not. I will experience finishing.
The second problem is the cold makes me want to wee and this country is diabolical for public loos. The husband and I went to Oxford for the day-it is a lovely place but lacking in loos. I ended up squatting in the middle of a bamboo grove in the Oxford Botanical Gardens-the problem being it is somewhat hard to exit a bamboo grove with an iota of dignity when the wee you left behind is actually steaming on the ground.